Alain de Botton Quotes

We all have our own ideas of who we are that may or may not be justified, and you can really find out a heck of a lot more accurately from the people around an individual.

I'm still the same and I don't feel any different but when the elevator doors open and everybody gasps, it's an alienating feeling.

I always let other people describe me because if I describe myself you will not understand.

You end up becoming someone you see in the eyes of those you love.

I'm fascinated by what makes up a self, how one becomes a self, how much is it an answer to others and how much is it an essence of self.

I don't have all that great an awareness of how people see me in life. I don't find myself thinking about it a lot.

He did not think of himself as a writer for the simple reason that the world had never allowed him to think of himself in this way.

We'll become whoever we trust the most says we are.

I guess there are a lot of people out there that think they're supposed to define themselves in isolation, but that's not necessarily the case.

Each person tells you who they think they are, and who they think you are.

If the only vision we have of ourselves comes from the social mirror - from the current social paradigm and from the opinions, perceptions, and paradigms of the people around us - our view of ourselves is like the reflection in a crazy mirror room at the carnival.

And the best way to know who we are is often to find out how others see us.

A man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognize him.

In a way, you kind of get caught up in whatever image of yourself you think is out there.

I've always tried to figure out what people think of themselves and what they think they're projecting.

The biographer who writes the life of his subject's self-concept passes through a fade into the inner house of life.

Identity in the form of continuity of personality is an extremely important characteristic of the individual.

I feel like a mirror reflecting back everyone's perception of me.

You think you know who you are, and then other people have these other ideas.

The way you get to know yourself is by the expressions on other people's faces, because that's the only thing that you can see, unless you carry a mirror about.

And in fact, I think one of the best guides to telling you who you are, and I think children use it all the time for this purpose, is fantasy.

You learn more about a person from the people around that person than you do from the person themselves. We all have our own ideas of who we are that may or may not be justified, and you can really find out a heck of a lot more accurately from the people around an individual.

I am whatever you say I am; if I wasn't, then why would you say I am.

My mother helped me identify myself the way the world would identify me. Bloodlines didn't matter as much as how I would be perceived.

I would never say I was an icon, but so many people have said I am, so I suppose I am. I mean, I can't not be what everyone says I am. But I don't feel like an icon.